Singer Billy McCarthy, multi-instrumentalist Eric Sanderson and drummer Rob Allen are Brooklyn based band Augustines (formerly We Are Augustines) and will be hitting up our city of Seattle this coming February 7th along with My Goodness.

After a band break-up, record label turmoil and two tragic, unexpected deaths, the trio have returned with a fantastic new album simply titled Augustines. I had the chance to chat with Rob about the band and their new self titled release.

the mixtape: Where did you all get the name Augustines?

Rob Allen: The word Augustines has a lot of meaning to us. A lot of stuff that went down happened in August and Billy, his brother and Eric’s birthday was in August. So that’s kind of where we kind of got the name from.

tm: Your debut record Rise Ye Sunken Ships deals with a lot of dark subject matter. How does the recently released self-titled sophomore album compare?

RA: What was happening was when we started touring the record (RYSS) it became apparent that people were really connecting with it because there are so many people dealing with similar issues that don’t have anyone to talk to or have any outlet. We were getting tons and tons of e-mails and we were having conversations with people after the shows and what have you. And as the record started getting a little bit more momentum people were singing the songs and really connecting with us…So, by the end of the tour cycle all that was happening, it was crazy!…When we got off tour and it was time to come back to the studio we really wanted to keep that energy, we really wanted to take the positivity and the hope that had come out of Rise Ye Sunken Ships and put that back into this new record. This record really is about hope and positivity and survival.

tm: Do you enjoy all of the press you have to do in order to promote whatever it is you’re trying to get the public to know about?

RA: To be honest with you, I love it. I wasn’t born to do anything else. We’ve all been cracking away at this for many years. I started playing drums when I was 6 and playing live when I was 11, same for the other boys. To be able to do this at a real professional level is just…I couldn’t wish for anything better in the world, I love it.

Neumos Presents: Augustines + My Goodness,
Friday February 7th, 2014,
$18 ADV // 8PM // All Ages

Buy tickets here.